What can I use to treat fire ant bites on a 5 week old chick?

[MESOFRUFFEH]

I did some searching here on the forums but most everything I found was about getting RID of fire ants.... I had a chick get stuck in a really strange place, still not sure how she did it, but when I found her this morning, ants had literally started trying to eat her alive. They mostly got the skin on the underside of her wings, and some more random bites, but mostly they began removing that thin skin under her wings. I think I caught it before they got her super bad, but I was wondering if there was anything I could put on the bites to soothe the sting that is safe for chickens. This is my first time dealing with so many bites. The chick is 5 weeks old today.

Anything I can do to soothe her wounds or should I just let nature takes its course and keep her as comfortable as possible in the process?

 

[Amatino]

Potassium permanganate will help her heal. You use a TINY amount of it, about 1/4 teaspoon, mixed well in a cup of tepid-to-mildly-warm water and bathe her in the water. The water turns a scary purple, but she won't.

It will get her healing really fast, doesn't sting at all, and the warmth of the water will help soothe too.

Good luck!

 

[MESOFRUFFEH]

Potassium permanganate will help her heal. You use a TINY amount of it, about 1/4 teaspoon, mixed well in a cup of tepid-to-mildly-warm water and bathe her in the water. The water turns a scary purple, but she won't.

It will get her healing really fast, doesn't sting at all, and the warmth of the water will help soothe too.

Good luck!

Ok I did a quick search to see where I could find some locally, and other than some pot perm plus that they sell at walmart for iron filters, I could not find anywhere, do you know where I could get some? I also read something about using borax like that too, as a soak.

I brought her to work with me, I tube fed her this morning and put a few drops of nutri drench in it, I am keeping her warm, she seems to be fine. She did get eat up by the ants on her back some too, but she does not appear to be in any distress so hopefully she will be fine. I am hoping the poison wont be too much for her little system.

 

[Amatino]

Oh wow, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was an African remedy! I went to fetch my bottle to let you know where I got it and, sure enough, it's from Africa. The stuff is over the counter there and we use it a LOT!

I've searched through all the options I could find to track down the real stuff, not the odd additive-based items they have for fish tanks and such. The one that looks right is shipped from Thailand via eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/10g-Potassi...ce-/141686317593?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

On Amazon, I found this one: http://www.amazon.com/Potassium-Per...C_UL160_SR88,160_&refRID=0286WRESANXTAWJPV9JQ

Unfortunately, you'll end up with two pounds of the stuff, but I read through the reviews as well and it looks like it is the same product as what I'm used to.

For interest, I looked up the Wiki page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_permanganate and also found this 101 uses article https://www.intherabbithole.com/potassium-permanganate-the-most-useful-survival-chemical/

From my own use, and I've been using it since I was a kid, the water must be colored a very pale lilac/lavender for light duty and a rich but NOT DARK purple for heavy use. E.g. light duty would be general washing down of a body that has taken a tumble and has had a few grazes, heavy duty would be a fall off a bicycle with major pavement samples on the knees! Don't make it too strong, it works at even the lightest applications, in my experience.

Our chickens were bathed in the stuff when they had wounds, and then the bloodied feathers were dyed green with food coloring so that the other chickens wouldn't peck at the blood.

Hope this helps.

 

[Chickengal505]

I was looking around for something more easily accessible for you to use, and white vinegar as a topical seems like it would help. Initially it seemed like it would burn but it actually neutralizes fire ant venom.
(I found the below information on the page linked)
http://bugguide.net/node/view/28363

"Fire ants do not use formic acid in their sting, they use a cocktail of an alkaloid (a base) that is also toxic and allergenic proteins (induce an allergic effect in the body, by forcing the mass production of class E immunoglobins (IgEs). since the sting is a base, it does not make sense for ammonia or baking soda to treat a FIRE ANT sting. bases do not neutralize bases, they raise the pH. something more like white vinegar (acetic acid)or a weak acid would work(formic acid) to neutralize the sting. (Omar Fahmy)

Mentioned in the Dr's Book of Home Remedies, it kills the itch and stinging for a while, just re-apply when itching again."

You can also dose her orally with Benadryl and aspirin to decrease pain and reaction.

To dose aspirin you can cut a baby aspirin in half, which is about 40mg, or into a forth, which would be 20mg. Either is acceptable, but it depends on how comfortable you are with dosing her and how much pain you believe she's in. I wouldn't go over a half of baby aspirin. You can dissolve it in water and dropper/tube feed it to her, or mix it into a crumble or mash for her to eat.
More info here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/840411/using-aspirin-on-chickens

To dose benadryl you can split a benadryl tablet into a quarter and dose that, and give another quarter if it wasn't effective. More info here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/579161/can-you-give-a-chicken-benadryl (another poster in the thread linked also references the same article as I and recommends vinegar for fire ant stings)

 

[MESOFRUFFEH]

Thank yall so much for all the info! I gave her some bendryl and put some vinegar on her stings, I am pretty sure she is almost fully recovered, she is much more active now and has been eating well over the last several days. The bites do not seem to be bothering her at all!